If all the stars left the UFC for other promotions would Dana White & his marketing ability make new stars?

Question

What I'm asking is the UFC bigger than the stars like Anderson, GSP, Penn? Could the UFC lose those fighters and replace them with other fighters and use the UFC's marketing expertise to pump up new fighters? Is the UFC bigger than the fighters?

Answer 1

IMO I think that yes, UFC is bigger then it's stars,  there will be some with more power then others but Dana White created a product of a niche market and watch it explode.  He helped put the names of Shamrock, Mietech, Gracie, Lidell, Ortiz into a lot of households.  UFC can be viewed as the top because before UFC really hit it off, what MMA group had TV time, pay-per-views and endorsement deals.  With the correct promotion and people clawing their way to the top, White can help make people a star.

Answer 2

well i think there is a yes and no to your question, for example i bet alot of people tuned in to AFFLICTION because alot of old UFC fighters fight there for now,  They will have to up the salaries because UFC has the name and where i live here in Vegas,  its the most exciting events that come to town!!!! Best shows, weigh ins .....

Answer 3

the problem is dana makes stars like tito and randy then they go to other org. and get them popular because of there star power. but the ufc is much bigger than their star fighters. The ufc decides which fighters will be popular and they market them.

For example fighters like roger hueta, forrest griffen and pritty much all the TUF guys. but the ufc will always have the upper edge on their fighter because they can just produce new, young fighters

Answer 4

Unfortunately yes

having been watching the ufc since #4, I've been able to witness a lot of changes, and the truth is, fighters come and go in the ufc

say what you will about dana white and whoever else has been running the ufc in the last 5 years or so, but they turned the ufc into a commercial monster, and will continue to do so

true, the ufc needs stars to survive, but the stars need the ufc even more; frank shamrock, ken shamrock, royce gracie, mark coleman don frye, there is and endless list of guys who were touted by the ufc as the baddest man on the planet, until they lost a couple times, and suddenly started getting bumped to make room for the next guy

true, these guys can still fight in other shows (I used to love the fact that I could see all those old guys in Pride), but it's just not the same

All the ufc really needs to do is keep a stable of guys happy enough to fight 3-5 fights, or until they lose, then the fighter can complain all he wants, but there's 100 more guys right behind him ready to fight for a fraction of the money, and when the publicity train starts pushing the new guys instead of the old one, the old guy is all too easily forgotten

where is Matt Hughes? Rich Franklin?  heck, who would have believed a year ago that Chuck Liddell would be struggling to stay in the picture? GSP and Anderson Silva are both awesome, but where would they be a year after losing two in a row? And yet, we all know Dana white will still be around

Answer 5

Forrest Griffen is a prime example of what the UFC marketing machine can do for a fighters career. Forrest Griffen probably has just as big if not bigger of a fan base as GSP, Penn, and Anderson. Then you have the die hard UFC fans and the casual fan who only knows UFC and will only watch UFC. I think only the die hard MMA fans are the ones who will stop watching if all the best fighters in the world arent fighting

for the UFC. I think they'll be fine as long as they have some of the best.

Answer 6

yeah look at brock lesnar hes becoming a monster in a good way lol

Answer 7

yes dana has lots of friends that are mma fighter he could in a heartbeat